The Peasants

POLAND'S OSCAR CONTRIBUTION 2024

FROM THE DIRECTORS BEHIND LOVING VINCENT

Poland in the late 19th century. The young Jagna lives in the small village of Lipce in the countryside. A place characterized by tradition-laden patriarchal structures, gossip and intrigue. Not an easy place to be for a young woman determined to shape her own destiny. We also get to follow the inhabitants through the changes of the seasons, everyday life and celebrations. From the spring sowing through the summer, the autumn harvest time and winter. In addition to an insight into the peasant community with its crafts and rituals, the story revolves around Jagna's fight against an arranged marriage with the village's richest man, the much older Maciej.

Based on the 1909 novel by Nobel Prize winner Władysław Reymont, the directorial duo DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman have created an absolutely incredible animated film. Every single frame is a painting. With a staff of painters and animators using rotoscopic animation techniques, the oil paintings are transformed into moving images. If this sounds familiar, it's because the duo's previous film was Loving Vincent , an emotional story about the painter Van Gogh who triumphed over the world and was nominated for an Oscar.

* * * * * “ Sensual and overwhelming ” – Indewire
* * * * * “ Amazing! ” – Collider
* * * * “ A movie you must see ” – The Playlist
“ A visual triumph! ” – The Hollywood Reporter